A research organization in Qatar claims to have put an end to the unlawful sale of manuscripts at significant international auction houses.
According to a report, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) stopped the illegal trafficking of manuscripts in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia as a result of a collaboration between historians at the Himaya project and the Qatar National Library. Before the group stepped in, one of the manuscripts was apparently set for auction at Sotheby’s.
The Himaya network has been collaborating with Interpol, the World Customs Organization, and a group headquartered at the National Library in Doha over the past couple of years to identify many manuscripts that experts claim were stolen between 2016 and 2019.
According to Stephane Ipert, director of special collections at the National Library, “in 2020 our international team of specialists learned that certain significant Qur’anic manuscripts from Kabul were for sale in Paris, London, Amsterdam, and Iran. A good manuscript, a rare and lovely Qur’an, was put up for auction at Sotheby’s in London. It was called ‘A gorgeous and exceedingly uncommon, illuminated Qur’an juz.”
Francis Richard, a leading authority on Persian manuscripts, identified the Quran, which was going to be sold at Sotheby’s last year. Ipert was made aware of the sale by Richard, who previously cataloged the manuscript at the National Archive of Afghanistan in Kabul in 2016.
The National Archive never reported the alleged theft, which made returning the book more difficult. Additionally, it is unknown how many manuscripts from the collection—which includes over 6,000 Qurans from the Timurid era—have been stolen.
Despite Sotheby’s decision to pull the Quran from the auction, the team claimed to have found eight additional stolen manuscripts alone in the past year.
A worldwide gathering of experts met at the National Library last month to examine methods for safeguarding artifacts from cultural heritage in nations including Afghanistan, Libya, and Iraq. The Athar Project (Antiquities Trafficking and Heritage Anthropology Research), with whom it will next work together, will be in charge of monitoring the unlawful trafficking of manuscripts on social media.